Former West Brom and Watford player joins Wrexham | OneFootball

Just six months after announcing his retirement from football, former England international goalkeeper Ben Foster has signed for non-league side Wrexham.

Foster left current Championship side Watford at the end of last season when they were relegated from the Premier League, but even in his advancing years he still played 26 times in the top flight in 2021-22 and was preferred to Daniel Bachmann for much of the campaign.

Having been released by the Hornets, Foster turned down the chance to become a backup goalkeeper at Newcastle United before shortly revealing that he was walking away from the game before turning 40.

He also turned down Wrexham before he decided to retire after receiving an offer from the National League sleeping giants, having played for them on loan back in 2005 when he was at Stoke City.

They have come back in for his services though as the Welsh side push for promotion back to the EFL and following a season-ending injury to Rob Lainton, Hollywood actor owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny have made their move.

The veteran stopper, who also played for the likes of Manchester United and West Brom in his career, is expected to put pen-to-paper on a contract to challenge Mark Howard for the starting jersey at the Racecourse Ground.

The Verdict

It's somewhat of a surprise that Foster is going to come out of retirement and play for a non-league club when he was a regular starter in the Premier League last season - even more surprising when he turned down said club earlier on in the season.

Sometimes though, circumstances change and with Wrexham in the middle of a promotion battle, Foster has perhaps seen how keen they are to recruit him and he wants a piece of the action.

He clearly has things to occupy himself with his cycling and podcasting as he is well-known for on YouTube, but the football bug will always bite and Foster will believe he has something still left to offer in the competitive game.

And when you factor in the notoriety you get when playing for Wrexham now thanks to their ownership and how big they are becoming in the United States and Canada thanks to their Disney+ documentary, it isn't exactly a shock as to why Foster would come out of retirement for a couple of months to try and help them over the line and into League Two.